The invention relates to a dry dog food, characterized in that it has the shape of a parallelepiped having dimensions from 29 to 40 mmxc3x9729 to 40 mmxc3x9719 to 30 mm. The invention also relates to the use of such a food for slowing down the speed of ingestion of foods by dogs, or as veterinary medicament or additive, in particular for its use in improving dentibuccal hygiene in dogs.
Originally, dogs were hunting carnivores descending from the wolf (Encyclopxc3xa9die du chien, Ed. Hatier Royal Canin, 1997). Their mouth and their dentition are those of the Carnivora, although adapted for catching live or dead preys, for biting them, for tearing them and for chewing their meat.
The domestication of dogs by humans has profoundly modified the canine species in its size, its breeds and its behaviour.
As regards the size of dogs, they are commonly classified into three large categories: the small breeds (1 to 10 kg), the medium breeds (11 to 25 kg) and the large breeds (26 to 80 kg and more). In the last category, the largest dogs are sometimes called giant breeds.
Domestication has also changed the dietary behaviour of dogs. With no obligation to hunt for live or dead prey in order to feed themselves, and having the benefit of foods ready for consumption, whether they are home-made preparations or industrial foods (moist mash or dry foods), dogs are no longer in the habit of biting, tearing and chewing their food. They swallow these foods rapidly, almost without putting their dentition to work and without their water- and enzyme-rich saliva having had time to impregnate the food. Dogs thus fed are all the more gluttonous since the foods offered are increasingly appetizing. Additionally, the most gluttonous dogs are those which are large in size, their daily nutritional requirements being the highest.
Thus, dog owners and breeders are often heard complaining that their dogs eat too quickly, consequently risking disorders to their health.
Indeed, veterinarians describe several dog pathologies whose cause is an excessively rapid ingestion of foods.
The most benign condition, but nevertheless highly unpleasant both for the dogs and for their owners, for which an excessively rapid ingestion of food can be blamed, is the formation of dental tartar and plaque which are responsible for all periodontal diseases (A. Grimberg and Ph. Beltramo, Recueil de Mxc3xa9decine Vxc3xa9txc3xa9rinaire, 1991, 167 (10/11), 997-1003). In order to combat the formation of dental tartar and plaque in pets, numerous methods, including the use of chemical additives, have been proposed. For example, the company Colgate-Palmolive Company has proposed several patented means: using a nutritionally balanced extruded food preferably having the shape of a cylinder or disc (disc shape) and containing fibrous striations (EP 0,575,021, U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,927), or using a xe2x80x9cchew productxe2x80x9d which is not a balanced food but an edible flexible matrix containing a cellulosic material and an additive (EP 0,522,897, U.S. Pat. No. 5,296,209).
At the other extreme of seriousness of the pathologies which can be caused by an excessively rapid ingestion of food is the stomach distension-twisting syndrome in dogs, particularly, but not exclusively, in pedigree dogs which are large in size. The excessively rapid ingestion of a meal is considered as a risk factor, without the nature or the quality of the foods being implicated in the veterinary literature (Vxc3xa9ronique Viateau, Recueil de Mxc3xa9decine Vxc3xa9txc3xa9rinaire, 1993, 169 (11/12), 985-997; C. F. Burrows and L. A. Ignaszewski, Journal of Small Animal Practice, 1990, 31, 495-501). The excessively rapid ingestion of food causes aerophagia, with rapid accumulation of gases which distend the stomach which can lead to gastric volvulus (W. G. Guilford, Strombeck""s Small Animal Gastroenterology, 3rd edition, W. B. Saunders Company Ed., 1996, pp. 303-317).
There is therefore a need to find new means for bringing about a slower ingestion of foods by dogs, and particularly large breed dogs.
Industrial dog foods are classified into two main categories: moist foods and dry foods. Dry foods currently have the fastest growth rate on the pet food market.
Compared with moist foods, dry foods offer many advantages. They are convenient to use and easy to preserve. Furthermore, by virtue of their moisture level of less than 14%, they are more economical than moist foods; only 1 kg of dry food is required on average to obtain the equivalent of the nutritional supply of 4 kg of moist food.
Dry dog foods are provided in two main categories: single-component foods and multicomponent foods.
Single-component foods are foods in which the unit components are identical. Depending on their production technology, these may be granules, crumbs, flakes, kibles and the like.
The multicomponent foods are foods comprising at least two different unit components.
The applicant has discovered, surprisingly, that it is possible to slow down the ingestion of food by dogs, and particularly by large size or large breed dogs, by offering them a dry food of which one unit component has the shape of a parallelepiped having well-defined dimensions. The parallelepiped can have completely flat or slightly convex faces, and edges which are smooth or which have notches and grooves.
The three dimensions of the parallelepipedal food component of the invention are from 29 to 40 millimetres (mm)xc3x97from 29 to 40 millimetresxc3x97from 19 to 30 millimetres.
In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the unit component of the food will have the dimensions from 29 to 33 millimetresxc3x97from 29 to 32 millimetresxc3x97from 19 to 25 millimetres.
The invention also relates to dry dog foods of which one unit component has the shape and the dimensions described above. The shape and the dimensions of the foods are independent of the composition thereof, provided that they contain:
at least one source of protein of animal or plant origin, and/or
at least one source of slow or rapid carbohydrates, in particular cereals and/or by-products thereof, and/or
at least one source of fat of animal or plant origin.
A food of the invention can also serve as excipient for any veterinary medicament or additive useful for dentibuccal hygiene in dogs.